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MACUCC churches urged to participate in Mission: 1

Mission:1 Newsfeed: ul {margin-left:0; padding-left:0; list-style-type: none } ul ul {list-style-type: disc; } ul ol {list-style-type: decimal; } ul li span.headline {font-weight:bold; display:block; margin:12px 0 0 0; }Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner The Commission for Stewardship and the...

MACUCC Minister & President jailed for 3 days

Massachusetts Conference Minister and President The Rev. Jim Antal unexpectedly spent three days and two nights in jail in Washington DC, after being arrested during a sit-in aimed at pressuring President Obama to deny the permit for a massive new oil pipeline. "We expected to be arrested and given the opportunity to bail ourselves out that day," Antal said of himself and the other 64 protestors arrested on Saturday, Aug. 20. "But what ended up happening was that we were...

500 postcards on homelessness bill delivered to State House

Delegates to the Massachusetts Conference's 212th Annual Meeting last month not only passed a resolution on ending homelessness among youth - they also took immediate action, filling out 500 postcards calling on state legislators to address the issue. On July 19, those postcards were delivered to the chairs of the Joint Conference Committee on the FY12 Budget by representatives of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. The coaltion had been urging the passage of House Bill...

ONA task team urges support of Amnesty International Campaign to stop discrimination in Turkey

The Open and Affirming Task Team is urging members and friends of Massachusetts Conference churches to support an Amnesty International USA campaign calling for a stop to discrimination against LGBT people in Turkey. Turkey's ruling party has pledged to reform the country's consitution, and promises serious reforms to protect the rights of its people - except, according to Amnesty, for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people.  "According to many...

Conference announces 2011 Haystack Award Winners

The Massachusetts Conference honored five Haystack Award winners at the 212th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference on June 18,2011. Below is information about those honorees:­­­­­­­­­­­ Evangelism The Commission for Evangelism and Congregational Vitality announced the following award:   Jim and Diane Scovil Mashpee Congregational Church Jim is the founding pastor of Mashpee Congregational Church, UCC, on Cape...

A Resolution to Call for Action to Restore the Dream of Democracy approved by the 212th Annual Meeting (2011)

(A Response to the U.S. Supreme Court Decision Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission) Proposed by the Church Council of the First Congregational Church Williamstown, United Church of Christ and approved by the 212th Annual Meeting Massachusetts Conference, UCC, June 18, 2011.  (Anyone with questions on this resolution, or who wishes to get involved, is encouraged to contact Sam Smith.)   Background: In a 5-4 ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, the...

ACM Peter Wells joins demonstration for tomato pickers

Associate Conference Minister Peter Wells joined hundreds of demonstrators on Sunday, Feb. 27, as they marched from Copley Square to a Brigham Circle Stop & Shop, calling on the supermarket chain to improve wages and working conditions for tomato pickers in Florida. Wells read from a letter signed by numerous religious leaders from a wide variety of faiths, saying in part:  "As faith leaders, we are united in our call for better working conditions and higher pay for Florida...

Bible Study Guide for Three Cups of Tea available in preparation for May 3rd event

The Massachusetts Conference has released a Study Guide for Three Cups of Tea in anticipation of the May 3rd event featuring the book's author, Greg Mortenson. The guide is designed to facilitate conversation around Mortenson's books and work and includes materials appropriate for children and youth as well as for adult faith formation. The study guide can be downloaded here: www.macucc.org/threecups. An Evening with Greg Mortenson: Promoting Peace through Education  will...

ONA Task Team supports petition to Stop Exporting Hate

In response to the slaying of Ugandan gay rights activitst David Kat, Open and Affirming Task Team Chair Kathie Carpenter is asking supporters to sign on to a "Stop Exporting Hate" petition by the Human Rights Campaign. The petition's introduction states: "A Ugandan gay rights advocate was bludgeoned to death in his home this week. His name had been among those listed in an anti-gay magazine, under the headline "Hang them!"" "Right-wing U.S....

Prayers urged in response to events in Egypt, Uganda

The Massachusetts Conference's Commission on Ecumenism is encouraging churches to join in prayer to seek God's presence amid the upheavals in Egypt. while the Conference's Open and Affirming Task Force is urging prayer and advocacy in response to a murdered Ugandan activist. The Commission on Ecumenism is encouraging congregations to support Christians in the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America as they embark on a three-day period of prayer and fasting during this time of...

Two MACUCC churches lead protest, close accounts, at Bank of America

From the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization: On November 17, 2010, 113 religious leaders from across Greater Boston gathered in front of Bank of America’s Government Center branch to protest the bank’s usurious lending practices by moving their money. At the gathering, 136 individuals (represented by leaders of their religious institutions) as well as heads of two major religious institutions - Hope Central Church in Boston and First Church in Cambridge, UCC – closed...

Resolution on a Massachusetts Innocence Commission Approved by 211th Annual Meeting (2010)

Presented by the MACUCC Commission on Mission and Justice on behalf of the Innocence Commission Task Team Approved by the 211th Annual Meeting, Massachusetts Conference, UCC, June 19, 2010 WHEREAS the prophet Amos warns us of God’s judgment of those who have allowed justice to go wrong (“You have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood”) – Amos 6:12b; AND WHEREAS 130 persons in the United States have been found to be totally innocent of...

Resolution Promoting Peace for All in Sudan approved by the 206th Annual Meeting (2005)

Proposed by First Congregational Church of Williamstown, UCC; Approved by the 206th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 4, 2005. Theological Background   The Bible stories of political oppression are numerous, beginning with the Israelites in Egypt. God speaks to Moses from the burning bush (Exodus 3:7-10), “I have seen the affliction of my people…and have heard their cry...I know their sufferings…and I have seen the...

Resolution In Support of "Jubilee Congregations" and "Jubilee Sunday" within the United Church of Christ approved by the 206th Annual Meeting (2005)

Approved by the 206th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 4, 2005 Biblical/Theological Rationale “Proclaim liberty throughout the lands and to all the inhabitants thereof, it shall be a jubilee for you” (Leviticus 25:10). God and right community relationships occupy the center of economic and social life in the Bible. The most important texts (though there are many others) are Deuteronomy 15 and Leviticus 25, which respectively call...

Resolution to Call the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church Of Christ to Advance the Cause of the Most Vulnerable in the Budgetary and Appropriation Process approved by the 206th Annual Meeting (2005)

Approved by the 206th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 4, 2005 Theological Rationale The Bible is filled with calls and commands “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8). Amos speaks of the wealth of the land, and the indifference of the rich. “There is no justice in the land” (3:10). “The poor are afflicted and exploited” (2:6-8). “The end has come upon my people,...

Resolution Calling the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ to be a Fair Trade Conference approved by the 205th Annual Meeting (2004)

Approved by the 205th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 14, 2004   WHEREAS, teachings on “global economic theory” are scarce in the Bible, the more basic story of God standing with the powerless against the powerful is common. Isaiah, for example, attacked the rich for their wasteful opulence: “Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasurers” (2:7a). Hosea mocked the way they boasted...

Resolution on Massachusetts Prison Control Units approved by 205th Annual Meeting (2004)

Approved by the 205th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 12, 2004 WHEREAS, release of prisoners is a sign of God’s Spirit (Isaiah 61:1) and concern for prisoners is a sign of righteousness (Matthew 25:31-46); and WHEREAS, prisons in Massachusetts contain “prisons within prisons” know as control units, where prisoners are held in sensory deprivation cells 23 to 24 hours a day; and WHEREAS, the United Nations Human Rights...

A Resolution Supporting Seafarer Rights approved by the 205th Annual Meeting (2004)

Approved by the 205th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, June 12, 2004 WHEREAS, Jesus dignified seafaring in calling as his first disciples from those who made their living from the sea, and began his ministry “proclaiming release to captives, … and setting at liberty those who are oppressed,” (Luke 4: 18); and   WHEREAS, the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ sponsored the visit of the Freedom Schooner...

A Resolution Concerning A Christian Response to War approved by the 204th Annual Meeting (2003)

Approved by the 204th Annual Meeting, June 6-7, 2003, Mount Holyoke College. Proposed by the Commission for Mission and Justice Ministries WHEREAS, the 204th Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ takes note of the large number of current and impending violent conflicts throughout God's world, and WHEREAS, as disciples of the Prince of Peace and as Christians who have been called to live out a vocation of reconciliation, we acknowledge with...

A Resolution Concerning our Government's Response to the Attacks of 9/11/01 approved by the 203rd Annual Meeting (2002)

Approved at the 203rd Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference, June 7-8, 2002   WHEREAS, the 203rd Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ mourns the terrible loss of innocent lives on September 11 and grieves deeply with the victims' families, and WHEREAS, the Apostle Paul tells us "Repay no one evil for evil" and "Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17, 20), and   WHEREAS, many...